


On Bended Knee; Early

by YellowMagicalGirl



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Blood Loss, Don’t copy to another site, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Injury, Post-Canon, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 17:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20312938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YellowMagicalGirl/pseuds/YellowMagicalGirl
Summary: Jim tries to propose. Claire would rather he do so when he isn't bleeding out.





	On Bended Knee; Early

"This is probably a bad time," Jim said, a weak smile on his face. "But marry me?"

Claire had thought that battlefield proposals were romantic, once upon a time. Right now, though, it was frustrating. They were hiding by a fallen tree, while Eli, AAARRRGGHH!, Blinky, and Vex fought ten, twenty feet away.

"Jim, you're going to need to come up with a better proposal speech than _that." _Not to mention, she was two and a half months short of eighteen. Claire's mom would kill her; her dad would kill Jim. Never mind that they had let her go on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend at the end of tenth grade, where they could have easily eloped.

"But I don't know if if I have hat much time," Jim complained. "There's so much _blood."_

Jim was right in that regard. He _had _lost a lot of blood. Enough to make him act like he was wearing a yellow cardigan, and maybe a black one too. It didn't help that he kept trying to move, probably to try and make a big romantic gesture. She had _tried_ to bind his wounds, but it wasn't working as well as she wanted.

"Jim, you big baby, I'm sure you've recovered from worse injuries before." He whimpered, and Claire cupped the side of his face. "It's gonna be okay, we just got caught by an antimagic EMP. You're going to be okay, and maybe while you rest up I'll go figure out what ring size I am, so you can propose to me properly."

Jim smiled, wide and bright. "So is that a yes?"

"You can barely sit up, much less get on one knee. Wait, no, _don't!"_

* * *

Jim knew the sounds and smells of the hospital all too well, so he knew where he was before he opened his eyes. He must have passed out during battle. An IV drip was connected to his arm.

Claire sat in a chair next to his bed. Slumped was a better word; if not for the way he saw her staring at the clock he would have thought she was asleep. There were deep bags under her eyes; how long had it been since she had slept?

He loved her so much, and as much as he wanted to be able to spend the rest of his life with her he didn't mean that in such a literal sense that she wouldn't be able to get any sleep in uncomfortable hospital chairs.

Jim blinked a couple of times as he realized that he had might have made a complete fool of himself. He hoped the memories quickly coming to mind weren't memories at all, but dreams. Not that he didn't want to marry Claire, but he wanted to be more at least a little suave about it.

"Hey Claire," he said. She turned to him, unblinking.

"Glad to see you're awake, how're you feeling?"

"Better, though it might be painkillers talking."

"That's good."

"Hey, about last night..." He cleared his throat. "Did I..."

"Try to propose and pass out when you tried to get on one knee? Yes." She tried to smirk, but it was soft enough to still be considered a smile. "If you still feel the same way in a couple months, my ring size is a four."


End file.
